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“Theoretically speaking, our goal is to develop a new hybrid solar-battery system, but depending on the power it can generate when we miniaturise it, we can imagine applications for portable devices such as phones,” said Hydro-Québec’s Andrea Paolella, who led the study.

In order to create fully self-charging batteries, the team has to create the anode (the other half of the battery) and miniaturise it to a portable size.

“We have done half of the job,” said Professor Demopoulos, chair of mining and materials engineering at McGill University.

“We know that we can design the electrode that absorbs light," he said.

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The team has been given a grant to continue developing the technology. Hopefully, this is a step towards a charging cable-free future.

“This grant will give us the opportunity to bridge the gap and demonstrate that this new concept of a light-chargeable battery is possible," said Professor Demopoulos.

“With smart phones now, you can basically carry your whole office in that device, they are loaded with all sorts of applications so you need a lot of power to use it everyday and sometimes, you don’t have access to a plug to recharge.”